Blast From the Past
by southerngirl523
Summary: What do you do when your ex comes back to town? The ex you never quite got over, the ex your brother continually tells you will always be your what if? Only time will tell.
1. Chapter 1

-Pony-

"When were you going to tell me that Liv is back in town? For good. To stay." Two-Bit asks leaning over the shiny surface of the bar he's been busy polishing. He is a natural bartender, he makes a killing in tips, customers come in just to see him and everyone of them leave thinking he's their new best-friend. I had, had some reservations about hiring him, Soda had insisted. I have to admit Soda had been right. I glance up at him over the ledger book full of the weekly numbers Soda had asked me to look at. There are still times I can't believe we actually own this place. I had never even had a passing thought about owning my own business, it had been a hundred percent Soda's idea. His number had gotten called towards the end of the war, in the year he was away from home first in basic training and then waiting to see if he'd be shipped out he got to talking with another guy whose dad owned a bunch of bars in Indianapolis. For some reason the idea clicked with Soda, luckily he never went overseas and came back home determined to buy his own bar. He went back to school to get his GED then enrolled in a bunch of business courses at the local community college all while working sixty plus hour weeks at the car dealership Steve works at. When this space went on the market, Soda proposed I come on with him, as more of a silent partner. I had never seen Soda so passionate about anything, so I couldn't tell him no. Darry had not been happy when he thought I was going to give up four years of college plus medical school to run a bar, it took a lot of convincing him on my part before he finally calmed down. I help out at the bar when I can, but since I took the job at the hospital's new Children's Wing as a resident pediatrician, I find myself here less and less.

"I didn't know I was supposed to tell you." I reply. Two-Bit scowls at me, despite me and Liv having a past, the two of us dated exclusively our junior and senior year of high school, Two-Bit has always harbored a not so secret crush on her. Not surprising she is exactly his type, blonde blue-eyed.

"Yeah. Yeah you were." He insists, he raises his eyebrows at me, "So she's home for good?"

"Yeah she took a job in the new Children's Psychology department at the hospital." Two-Bit thinks about this for a second or two. Liv and I broke up after our senior year, we both knew that trying to maintain a long distance relationship was not what we wanted at that time. I headed to Baylor for college and then medical school while she went to UCLA. Despite having broken up the two of us stayed friends and kept in contact with each other. When the hospital started looking to fill a spot for a child's psychiatrist, I passed on Liv's information and they began recruiting her extensively. She took the job and just got back into town. "She should be here soon, she said she'd meet me here." As if on cue Liv walks in, she greets me with a quick hug,

"Sorry I would have been here sooner but Julie insisted I have dinner at home." She tells me.

"No problem. Two-Bit here has been keeping me entertained." Two-Bit leans across the counter in Liv's direction,

"How's it going Liv?" he asks, "You look as beautiful as ever." Liv smiles,

"I see you haven't changed a bit." She replies, "And thank you I appreciate that especially since I spent the last two hours moving boxes around."

"You got it babe." Two-Bit responds winking at her.

"Any luck finding an apartment?" I ask as Liv sits down on the stool next to me. She shakes her head,

"Not yet. Thankfully dad and Julie are pretty adamant about me staying with them for a while. I think they are going through some empty nest syndrome since Jack moved out." She smiles at Two-Bit as he slides her a drink, "Thank you." She pauses to take a sip, "Where are you living these days?" Two-Bit chuckles as he walks to the other side of the bar,

"Uh, with Two-Bit and Soda." Liv's eyes widen,

"That must be interesting." She replies. I smirk. The three of us had moved in together as soon as I got home from med school. Two-Bit had just gotten kicked out of his girlfriend's house, and Soda didn't want to live with Darry and his then new wife Amelia any longer. None of us had a lot of extra cash, so we figured it would be cheaper to move in together. We got a three bedroom apartment in one of the newer buildings in Tulsa. It's a single guy's paradise, there's a constant stream of girls coming in and out pretty much all the time. I however leave that detail out.

"Interesting is a good word." I tell her.

"I bet." She replies, "The good thing is dad isn't in a hurry to get rid of me so I have some time to figure things out."

"Liv, it's great to see you again." Soda says as he comes out of the office from behind the bar.

"You too." She replies stifling a yawn, "I should get going, I'm exhausted and I have to meet Dr. Davidson tomorrow morning to fill out paperwork." She turns towards me, "Are you working tomorrow?" I nod,

"I'll be there around 8 and then I'm on call tomorrow night. You are in Clinic Five?" Liv takes a piece of paper out of her purse, studies it for a second than replies,

"Yeah. I'll be there pretty much all day." She hesitates for half a second, "We should do lunch." I know Soda and Two-Bit are both watching us, and I am sure Liv does too.

"Sure lunch sounds good. I'll meet you in your office around 1." She gets up giving me another quick hug,

"1 sounds good. I'll see you then." She says goodbye to Soda and Two-Bit before excusing herself and leaving.

"I'm gonna tell you this if you don't get with her I will." Two-Bit remarks casually as he refills my drink. Soda just rolls his eyes and shakes his head, I hang out for a while longer before calling it a night myself and heading home.

-Liv-

I wake with a start when my alarm goes off then I panic for a second when I can't remember where I am, it takes a moment until I realize I am back in the bedroom I grew up in. I turn off the alarm and groan getting out of bed almost tripping over one of the thirty boxes that are piled up in my room. The movers dropped them off a few days ago, neither my dad nor my step-mom Julie knew what to do with them so they just stacked them up. Everything else had been dropped off at a storage unit. "Ugh." I moan when I crash into another box I stop a moment to rub my leg where I can guarantee I am going to have a bruise later. I glance up when I hear the short rap on the door, and Julie sticks her head in the door,

"Oh good Livy you're up." She says, "We didn't want you to oversleep on your first day." She takes a look around the room, "How about this weekend I help you unpack and get you settled." I nod,

"Thanks that would be great."

"Good. I'll let you get dressed breakfast is ready for you downstairs whenever your ready." She tells me shutting the door behind her. I lucked out in the step-mom department, all you ever hear are horror stories, but I can honestly say Julie has been nothing short of amazing. My real mom, if you can even call her that left my dad when I was just three months old, leaving my dad with a newborn and my older brother Jack who was barely over a year old, while she took off to live on some commune in Oregon. It took dad almost two years to find her to serve her divorce papers, she signed them immediately and relinquished all her parental rights to Jack and I. Sometimes I wonder how my dad held it together, but he did somehow he managed to keep Jack and I both alive and open his own architecture firm. My grandparents helped out a lot when we were younger and my Aunt Vivian moved in with us, until him and Julie got married. Needless to say dad is incredibly over protective of the two of us, he was a mess the day I left for school in California. I take a quick shower, fix my hair and makeup get dressed and head downstairs.

"Morning sweetheart." Dad greets from behind his newspaper.

"Morning." I reply sitting down as Julie piles pancakes on my plate. A lot of my friends think it's strange that neither Jack or I call Julie mom, when she first started dating dad she told us to call her Julie and even after they were married never once told us to call her mom. She is our mom though and she knows this both of us refer to her as our mom, regardless of what we call her.

"You excited about your first day?" Dad asks setting down the newspaper.

"I am." I reply. I try not to let on the fact that I am having a few doubts about this. I gave up a pretty good thing in LA to move here. A good job, friends, an apartment. However this job is my dream job, and bonus it came with a hefty pay raise. My family is here, and thankfully I have a few friends who either moved home after college or just stayed in Tulsa period and then there's Pony. I find myself smiling just even thinking about him, I've been trying to convince myself that he had nothing to do with my decision to take this job, that I am not even the slightest bit curious if we could possibly make a go of something now. But deep down I know I'm lying to myself. I glance at my watch, "Oh shit. I mean crap. Sorry." I cry standing up, even at twenty-six I am paranoid about swearing in front of them. "I'm going to be late, I'll see y'all for dinner." I grab my stuff and dash out to my car. I make a mental note to remind myself to buy Jack a twelve pack and a steak next time I see him, he had offered and then flown to LA to drive back with me so I didn't have to pay to ship my car or drive by myself. It takes about fifteen minutes to get to the hospital, the hospital itself is old one of the oldest in Tulsa however thanks to a benefactor the new Children's Wing is brand new and gorgeous. I park the car and get out following the directions to Clinic Five. A pretty brunette stands up when I walk in,

"You must be Dr. Cooper. Or Olivia which do you prefer?" She asks standing up shaking my hand,

"Liv please." I tell her, "Dr. Davidson?"

"Guilty as charged. But please call me Ginny. It's so nice to finally have a face to go with the voice." I had, had no less then four phone interviews with her but we never met face to face, I had taken the job sight unseen.

"It is. Thanks for this opportunity, I'm glad I could come home and help the community." She smiles at me,

"It's our pleasure, you came highly recommended. How do you and Dr. Curtis know each other?" She asks as I follow her down the hall,

"We actually went to high school together." She nods pushing a door open,

"This is your office feel free to to decorate it anyway you want, if you don't like the paint color let us know and we'll have it changed. You don't have any patients scheduled until next week, give you some time to settle in, fix things the way you want, meet the nurses." She pauses a second to catch her breath, "We have quite a long list of minors waiting to see a psychiatrist, you getting here couldn't have happened at a better time." She takes a breath, "So lets go see the rest of the building." Ginny is like an over excited child, she is non stop. By the time we get back to my office, I am exhausted. "My office is right down the hall if you need me." She replies as she leaves. I sit down behind the desk and lose myself in my thoughts,

"How's it going Dr. Cooper? Have a fun morning with Ginny?" Pony's voice snaps me out of my thoughts.

"She's very excited about everything." I tell him standing up getting my purse. "Super sweet but very uh exuberant." Pony laughs,

"That's a nice way to put it Liv." The two of go to the cafeteria for lunch, and spend the hour just talking, catching up. I had almost forgotten how much I enjoy just being around him even if it is totally platonic. "I should get back to my office I have a bunch of appointments this afternoon. We should make lunch a regular thing." He says nonchalantly as we walk back to my office.

"I think so." He smiles, one of those smiles that make my pulse kick up a notch, and my knees feel like jelly. One of the best things about Pony is he has no clue what kind of affect he has on girls, none at all. It's adorable and incredibly endearing.

"Good. I'll see you at 1 tomorrow then." He gives me a super quick hug goodbye before turning towards the elevators. I go back into my office to start organizing.


	2. Chapter 2

Pony

After two weeks of having lunch with Liv regularly, I've come to realize I'm falling for her. Again. Or maybe still. Maybe Soda is right and I've never fully fallen out of love with Liv. Whatever the reason is, I'm falling for her. Fast. Much faster and harder than I ever expected. I think a part of it is, is I already know her. I know how quick her temper is, how she has a tendency to make rash decisions when she's angry and she almost always regrets them later on. How whether or not she talks about it a lot, I know Liv has some deep seeded abandonment issues, stemming from her mom running out on them regardless of the fact she doesn't remember her. I'm aware of how people swore Liv was stuck up because it can take a while before she lets someone in, but once she does I know first hand it's worth the effort. I know how intelligent she is, and how when she loves and or cares about something she does it with everything she has. And whether or not I want to admit it Soda is definitely right and I've never fallen out of love with her. "Pony! Pass the damn ham." Soda's voice snaps me out of my thought.

"Huh? What?"

"Ham please." Soda repeats. I hand him the plate, aware that both Darry and Amelia are staring at me.

"You alright, you seem kinda out of it?" Darry asks.

"Probably to much partying." Amelia responds. It's not a secret that Amelia doesn't like Soda and I. Before her and Darry got married she had tried to convince him to make Soda move out, when Darry didn't do it, she made Soda's life a living hell. Within a month Soda, Two-Bit and I had moved in together. Amelia had been ok with me, or rather she tolerated me, until I told her I wasn't interested in dating her younger sister Emily. Once that happened Amelia only sees us when she absolutely has too, which at this point is when we have dinner at their house every third Sunday of the month. She doesn't seem to care that it's put Darry in a really tough situation, for his sake Soda and I do our best to remain respectful and cordial with her, but sometimes it's hard. I ignore her comment completely,

"Yeah I'm ok." I reply. Amelia mutters something under her breath about the "sugar shack" which is what she refers to our apartment as. "How's work Darry?" I ask trying to change the subject, or rather trying to avoid Soda saying something as I can hear him grumbling next to me.

"It's going good. Saw Tom the other day, he said Liv was back in town working at the hospital." The construction company Darry manages does a lot of business with Liv's dad's architecture firm, Darry and Tom have gotten quite close, Tom had actually been a childhood friend of our dad. "You two going to finish what you started?"

"You know Emily will be here in a few weeks." Amelia interrupts. Despite me telling her on numerous occasions I am not interested in Emily at all, she has a hard time taking no for an answer and still brings it up whenever she can. "She'll be here for Nick and Jennifer's wedding." She adds, as she turns in my direction, "You are still attending aren't you?" Darry, Soda and I had grown up with Nick he lived a few blocks over and he's just about the same age as Soda they spent a few months of basic training together, Jennifer had been in my high school class, she's a really sweet girl, came from a very normal middle class family. The two of them have been together forever, I think we're all surprised it's taken them so long to get married.

"Yeah I'm going." I reply, already knowing where this conversation is going.

"You can't go without a date, I know Emily will gladly go with you." Amelia says, smiling a super sweet fake smile at me. I glance at Darry for help all he does is shrug, a quick look at Soda lets me know I am on my own for this one.

"I actually already have a date." This gets Soda's attention, he looks up at me.

"You do?" I shoot him a look, "Oh right, I forgot you mentioned Liv was going to go with you."

"Well never mind then." Amelia snaps standing up so fast she almost knocks her chair over, "Forget I said anything." She says grabbing a few plates off the table and stomping into the kitchen. After fifteen minutes it's pretty clear she's not coming back, Soda and I help Darry clean up before taking off. I spend the rest of the night wondering how I'm going to convince Liv to go with me. I'm still wondering this the next day at work, since I'm not on call that night I swing by the bar after work.

"You look beat." Soda notes as I sit down on one of the stools, "Long day?" He asks as he slides a beer in my direction. Monday's are Two-Bit's regular day off so Soda tends bar that night.

"Normal Monday." I reply taking a drink.

"You talk to Liv about being your pretend date yet?" he asks rubbing a spot off the bar,

"She's out of town at a psychology conference she won't be back till tomorrow night. I won't see her till Wednesday." I tell him, "And I'm not really sure how to say hey I need you to come with me and act like my date."

"How about the truth? My sister-in-law is psycho and I don't want to go to the wedding with her younger sister who is probably just as psycho." Soda dislikes Amelia way more than I do, and coming from Soda who normally likes everyone it says a lot. He did have the misfortune of living with her for a month and a half, and from what I've been told it wasn't a good time. We laugh about it now but about two weeks after Amelia and Darry got back from their honeymoon she had put a paper under Soda's door titled, "Rules for Peaceful Cohabitation." followed by a list of at least twenty rules. After that there was no chance of Amelia and Soda having a relationship.

"That's one way to put it." I reply. Soda rolls his eyes at me, "Who are you taking?"

"I haven't decided yet. Maybe Mia, maybe Kristen. I'll figure it out." He tells me. "You know if you don't hurry up with Liv she's going to stop waiting and find someone else."

"You and Two-Bit been talking about me?" I ask. Soda dissolves into laughter,  
"No, but I'm pretty sure Two-Bit wouldn't be sad if Liv decided to move on with him." He pauses, "Why did Two-Bit tell you that too?" I nod,

"Yeah the other night when he was trashed, he woke me up to give me some sage wisdom I think he called it. Then he passed out on the floor."

"Well drunk or not he has a point. Don't make me tell you I told you so." He warns, as he goes to the other side of the bar to talk to the group of girls that just sat down. I finish my beer, wave goodbye to Soda and go back to the apartment. Two-Bit is out when I get home, Monday is usually his poker night, he almost always has cash from tips from the weekend and he almost always comes home completely broke. The button on the answering machine is blinking, I hit it and listen,

"Hey Pone. It's Darry. Amelia wanted me to call you, she feels bad about dinner yesterday and wants you to come over for dinner Wednesday if you aren't on call. Let me know. Talk to you later." Beep. I roll my eyes at the answering machine, remind myself to call Darry back tomorrow and head for bed.

Liv

Had I thought about it I would have taken today off like every other single person who works in my department, but since I wasn't out drinking at the hotel bar last night till an hour before we had to leave for the airport and then had continued to drink on the plane I didn't feel justified. Besides I had some paperwork I had to take care of. I'm about to call it a day when someone knocks on my door, "It's open." I call, Pony strolls in, "I was going to stop and see you on my way out." I tell him.

"I didn't think you were here, Frank told me." Frank is the janitor, he's probably pushing seventy but it hasn't stopped him from asking me out a couple of times. "He's really smitten with you as he puts it." Pony adds with a smile. "I take it everyone else is home sleeping off a conference hang over?" I nod,

"I'm surprised they let Ginny on the plane last night, she could barely walk. Matt had to half carry half drag her on, and he was plastered himself." I report.

"We went to Vegas last year for a big pediatric conference and you've met Morgan haven't you?" I nod, "She was so drunk that she missed the plane all together, it took her two days to get sober enough to get back." Pony tells me.

"Sounds about right." I close the folder I had been working on, "Did you have plans tonight? Julie and Dad are having dinner with Jack, Beth and Beth's parents who are in town. I got invited but I don't really want to tag along." I have nothing against Beth, in fact I actually really like her. She's great for Jack, and he seems really happy. I just don't want to spend the night being the fifth wheel, even though Julie had assured me that wasn't the case.

"I'm actually going to have dinner with Darry and Amelia." Pony replies, "You should come with me, Darry has been asking about you."

"Are you sure? I don't want to intrude on your guy's family time." I tell him. Even though I've heard a lot about Amelia and I am super curious to meet her. Pony nods,

"Yeah it's fine." He pauses for a second, "Liv can I ask you something?" I nod,

"Of course." He runs his fingers through his hair nervously. It's so damn cute I want to scream.

"I was wondering if you wanted to be my date for Nick and Jennifer's wedding, unless of course you already have another date."

"I wasn't actually planning on going." I reply. Jennifer and I knew each other in high school, we had a few classes together but that was it, she was never someone I considered a good friend. I had been surprised to even receive an invitation. "But since you're asking I'd love to go with you." I tell him.

"Good it's a date." Pony says, "I mean it's not a date, if you don't want it to be a date." He rambles, "I'm just going to stop talking now."

"It can be a date." I reply.

"Good, I was kind of hoping it would be a date." He pauses, "So dinner tonight? I have a few more appointments but I can pick you up around 5:30?"

"5:30 is good. I'll see you then." He smiles,

"I'll see you then." I finish up what I have to do, then leave. The house is quiet when I get home dad usually works till after 6, and Julie doesn't get home till after she finishes carpool at the elementary school she teaches at. I straighten up the kitchen, before taking a quick shower and getting ready. At exactly 5:30 the doorbell rings, I pull it open.

"I see you've gotten more punctual." I tease. Pony chuckles,

"Kind of have to being a doctor." We get in the car, I'm surprised Darry only lives a few blocks over from me, I knew he had moved out of their old neighborhood not to long after Pony graduated high school. It hadn't come as a surprise to anyone, it had gradually gotten worse and by the time he left it was a high crime and drug area.

"How long has Darry lived here?" I ask after Pony comes around and opens my door.

"Uh about three years, give or take. He bought it when him and Amelia got engaged." He pauses at the door, "Amelia can be hard to get a long with, she's very, well you'll see. Just try not to get offended by the things she may say." I look at him,

"Now I'm worried." He slides his hand through mine which takes me by surprise, but neither of us pull away,

"Don't be. I just wanted to warn you." He rings the bell, a few seconds later Darry opens it,

"Liv hey it's so good to see you again." Darry greets giving me a big hug,

"It's good to see you too." I reply. He holds the door open for the two of us, ushering us inside,

"Dinner will be ready in a few." He tells us, "Make yourselves comfortable." He says before going down the hall, a few seconds later he calls us to dinner. The only word I can use to describe dinner is awkward, when Darry introduced me to Amelia I barely got a hello, all she did was talk about her younger sister who was coming to visit.

"So Liv was it?" I nod, "Has he told you about the sugar shack?" She asks rather innocently halfway through dinner,

"The what?" I question, even though I'm pretty sure I don't want to know the answer to this question.

"The apartment the three of them live in, it's crawling with women and God only knows what else." I don't even know how to respond to this luckily Darry saves me from having to by changing the conversation to something totally different. It's pretty obvious we can't get out of there soon enough for Pony who basically drags me out as soon as dessert is over and the dishes have been cleared. I wait until we get in the car before saying anything,

"The sugar shack? Seriously?" Pony glances at me sideways,

"It's not as bad as she made it out to be. I mean yeah there are girls in and out, but it's not like we are running a whore house or something."

"Well thank God for that." I reply. Pony sighs,

"That sounded bad," I nod, "Three single guys living together Liv come on there are going to be girls. Would you feel better if I told you I was sitting here waiting for you?"

"No you lying to me wouldn't make me feel better." I tell him, "I just thought that maybe now that I was home there was a chance we could give things a try. I didn't realize you were living in the midst of a harem." It's out of my mouth before I can stop myself, it would be a lie to say I hadn't been thinking about it since I knew I was coming home. And the fact that he may or may not have a string of women makes me a little more than jealous.

"Liv, I've wanted to give it a chance since you called and said you were coming home." Pony replies, "I just didn't know if you did." I nod,

"I do. I definitely do." I sigh looking at the clock on the dashboard, "I need to go though, I have an early morning everyone will be back in the office. Lunch?" Pony nods,

"Lunch." he repeats, he leans in brushing his lips against mine softly. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yup. Tomorrow." I tell him, getting out of the car and going into the house feeling more at home then I had since I got back to Tulsa.


End file.
